Canadian solo sailor rescued from sinking catamaran in Indian Ocean

A precarious search and rescue mission has unfolded over some of Australia's most isolated waters, with a Canadian solo sailor successfully winched to safety from the Indian Ocean.

The rescue took place on Sunday, around 1,000 kilometres south-east of Christmas Island.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) said the sailor had been travelling to the remote territory from Darwin when he failed to make two scheduled calls to family back home.

His brother alerted AMSA at 11am, which scrambled its Perth-based Challenger jet to scour the vast area off the West Australian coast.

Images captured by the aircraft show the sailor's catamaran partially submerged under rough waves and its skipper forced to take refuge in a still seaworthy tender.

Cloth draped over his face, the marooned man raised both hands as help arrived.

After parachuting down crucial supplies like a life-raft, food, water and an emergency beacon, a MH-70R Seahawk helicopter was called from Royal Australian Navy support vessel HMAS Supply.

The oiler replenishment ship had been patrolling the Indo-Pacific on a regional presence deployment, assisting part of the United States Pacific Fleet.

"The person received the emergency beacon and they were able to activate [it]. That allowed us to continuously monitor the drift of the vessel and the survivor," said Dan Gillis, manager at AMSA's rescue coordination centre.

"We were aware that there'd been some fairly severe weather through that area over the weekend."

The twin engine helicopter, designed for anti-submarine warfare as well as search and rescue, flew nearly 200kms to the sinking catamaran and winched the sailor aboard.

'Breathed a sigh of relief'

AMSA executive director of response and capability Alex Barrell said the complex operation was a testament to Australia's ability to rapidly respond to emergencies in remote places.

"From us receiving the call at around about 11am on Sunday morning, a little over eight hours later, this sailor was safely back on board HMAS Supply in a really remote part of the Indian Ocean," he said.

Mr Barrell said the incident highlighted how quickly conditions could deteriorate offshore and the importance of being prepared before heading to sea.

"[The sailor] certainly breathed a sigh of relief when our rescue jet flew over," he said.

"I think things aligned for him today as they did for us, but it's not by coincidence.

"It's the fact that we've got really trained officers that can deal with these and we've got the equipment that we need to undertake these rescues."